This is one of the best board track configurations I've seen to date. In some respects the colors are '90s Cadillac, yet it's true to board trackers from the '20s without fenders and pipes so short they'd fry the pavement. “The color came from a '30s hot rod,” Ralph Randolph said. “It's pure art deco earth tones, sprayed with modern metallics.” That's about as far as the true aspect applies to the board track racers of the original era. I've known Ralph Randolph for a few years. I've watched his company struggle, yet the man never stopped creating killer customs. “I was building three customs for Sturgis that year,” he said. “We faced tremendous time constraints.”
As many of you know, he's got a day job as an airline captain, but he's been a biker since he was a kid and rolled through every aspect of being a biker from joining a club to riding across country and building several bike configurations from the ground up. He ran strip clubs, owns a bail bonds joint, threatens to build a restaurant/nightclub and recently produced a television show. He's definitely an A-type personality. He's fought the ups and downs of our industry, grappled with the title of his company and a deal with a major toy manufacturer. He's enjoyed major opportunities and several setbacks, but he keeps moving ahead, because he loves building bikes, creating parts and facing challenges.
His demeanor is non-stop but his artistic side is all traditional rider style, except for this bike. His customs are mostly hot rod, bobber, classic, easy to ride bar-hopping scooters. This bike falls outside the everyday rider but has some historic significance.
“I sat across from Rick Krost, the Board Track Chassis designer, in Laughlin in 2004,” Ralph said. “I couldn't leave without buying that frame.”
He just recently completed a daily rider around a stock Softail, but also with historic overtones for the United States Commemorative Air Force as a fund raising effort. A new television show revolves around this build and the bike will be on tour at air shows this season to raise funds. We will bring you reports on the show as the producers find a home. But this bike also demonstrates that Ralph and his team don't just build parts and Knockout Motorcycles. Their shop is full service and they work on anything from Softails to Sportsters.
But let's jump back to this Board Tracker, which I would love to own. It's a classic, with a chassis designed and built by Rick Krost of U.S. Choppers. Rick's board track frames are now built by Paughco and a new version of a traditional spindly framed scooter from the '20s was just released in Cincy at the V-Twin show this year. I've witnessed a few board track builds, and although they're not considered everyday riders, they contain an exciting element of historic racing like nothing on this planet.
It may seem crazy to build a bike you can't hardly ride, has no fenders and a riding position reminiscent of the board track racers of the teens and '20s. They didn't have brakes and some didn't have exhaust pipes at all. They thundered around wooden tracks swelling with dagger-like splinters, spewing flames out exhaust ports and oil, through constant loss systems, lubricating the already slippery tracks. Through this brief era of motorcycling history riders aboard bicycle-like structured frames, peeled out of control into crowds killing several on-lookers, who were leaning on wooden fences. They were 100 mph bombs flying around the tracks on thin frames with narrow wheels, piano wire spokes and thin rubber tires.
Ah, but what the hell. Life is short, and now these original racers are worth over $250,000 for the right vintage and most over $100,000, even if it never saw a track. Fred Lange specializes in pre-1915 pieced together restorations, often starting with only an engine (805) 937-4972, and Don Whalen only deals in the originals, often with documentation, trophies and proof of racing history (626) 358-9696. But Rick and Ralph offer a fun way to capture a chunk of our history, and still ride it, although maybe not very far.
Ralph is the driving force behind all of his business entities, plus he's the artist, the fabricator and illustrator. He hand built the aluminum tanks, the two-piece bars, the mid controls and the seat suspension system.
“The bars are held in place with dowel pins under the trees and bolts from the top,” Ralph said. “They won't turn. I attempted to make this bike as minimal as possible and sometimes that's the toughest aspect to any build.”
At his back is Kenny Lucas, his motorman, wiring expert and assembler. “He can build an engine is two hours,” Ralph said. “It would take me all day. He understands that each motorcycle has a soul. That's why we ran clear oil lines to enhance the living aspect of this racer's veins.”
Ralph is currently working with his producers to splash his Commemorative Air Force show series on cable television while finishing a bike for Daytona Rat's Hole Show. “It's another board track racer with all modern components,” Ralph said. “It will have a solid billet front end, billet controls, pegs and the wheels are wild and matching with a 20/280 rear and a 23/3.5 front. I'm calling it the Rat Rocket.”
Next he will start designing a build for another Television effort, the Chopper Challenge, with nine other builders around the country, including Scott Long. “They begin the shooting at Knockout Motorcycles during Arizona Bike Week.”
There you have it, one non-stop individual, who is a rider and builds bikes and parts to be used and abused. We will bring you additional reports on his new projects and new products as they come together.
OWNER:FOR SALE …it could be yours!!!
YEAR:2006 ROCKEM & SOCKEM
MODEL:ROCKEM ROCKET
FABRICATION:RALPH RANDOLPH & KEN LUCAS
ASSEMBLY:RALPH RANDOLPH & KEN LUCAS
PAINT:AJ’S CUSTOMS
COLOR:IVORY PEARL w/ TURNED SILVER LEAF
ENGINE BUILDER:RALPH RANDOLPH DESIGNS – KEN LUCAS
ENGINE SPECS:
YEAR / MODEL:2006 EVOLUTION
DISPLACEMENT:96”
IGNITION:MORRIS MAGNETO
CASES:S&S – POLISHED
HEADS:S&S – POWDERCOATED
CAM:S&S – 561
CYLINDERS:S&S – POWDERCOATED
PISTONS:KEITH BLACK (10.5:1)
CARB:S&S – SUPER “E”
AIR CLEANER:VELOCITY STACK
EXHAUST:RALPH RANDOLPH DESIGNS – SIGNATURE SERIES
TRANSMISSION:
MODEL:REVTECH 4 SPEED w/ KICKER
KICK PEDAL:RALPH RANDOLPH DESIGNS – SIGNATURE SERIES
PRIMARY:1.5” OPEN BELT
FORKS:
TYPE: GIRDER, INDIAN STYLE
MAKE: KIWI
FRAME:
YEAR / MODEL:2006 U.S CHOPPERS
RAKE:30 DEGREES
BACKBONE:0” STRETCH
DOWNTUBE:0” STRETCH
MID CONTROLS:RALPH RANDOLPH DESIGNS – SIGNATURE SERIES
POWDERCOAT:VALLEY INDUSTRIAL PAINTING
BODY WORK:
TANK (OIL/GAS):RALPH RANDOLPH DESIGNS (SPLIT STYLE)
REAR FENDER:NONE
FRONT FENDER:NONE
OTHER STUFF:
SEAT PAN:RALPH RANDOLPH DESIGNS – SIGNATURE SERIES
HAND CONTROLS:OLD SCHOOL
MIRRORS:NONE
HANDLEBARS:RALPH RANDOLPH DESIGNS – SIGNATURE SERIES
HEADLIGHT:NONE
TAIL LIGHT:NONE
SEAT COVER:MESA CHOPPERS & RODS
WHEELS, BRAKES, and TYRES:
WHEELS: EXTREME MACHINE – 23” FRONT & REAR
TYRES: AVON VENOM 130/60R23 – DOT APPROVED
BRAKE: EXILE CYCLES (SPROCKET / ROTOR) – REAR ONLY
SPECIAL THANKS:
EXTREME MACHINE WHEELS – ROBERT LEE
AVON TYRES – SUKOSHI & JOHN
U.S. CHOPPERS – RICK KROST
HEAD WATERJET – CUSTOM PARTS / JOHN HARVEY
GEC ENGINEERING – MACHINING WORK / CHRIS NICOLLS
PRO POLISHING – SAM BARRON
NOTE:
THIS BIKE PLACED 26th OUT OF 150+ BIKES ENTERED AT THE AMD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OF BIKE BUILDING (STURGIS 2006 – OPEN CLASS)
